


Byegone

by pilotjones



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Abandonment, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Mates, Mystery, Secrets, Soft Ben
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-02
Updated: 2018-06-02
Packaged: 2019-05-17 09:50:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14830037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pilotjones/pseuds/pilotjones
Summary: Poe shakes his head furiously. He won’t accept that. No way. He’s an Alpha. “No. I would’ve known,” he insists. "Not Rey. She was never a part of this. She was never one of us."Except she is.





	Byegone

**Author's Note:**

> This is not exactly like all the other A/O fics, but it fits the theme and ignores just enough of the rules to make it fitting to the plot. I know this is a very frustrating story by me, a very frustrating author, so we’ll have to see if I ever get brave enough to continue. Either way, life goes on. Hope you'll enjoy!

Rey wakes up in a hospital.

 

Her room is empty except for the small company of an IV, some machine humming in white noise and an empty chair. All lamps are off, only light offered also supplied by the strange machine next to her bed. So far, it’s all green lights and buttons, but once she wakes up, that starts to change. First sign is the rhythm, then the sound. It’s like a fan spinning too quickly as if it’s about to break of its loop any given second.

 

She’s alone, but there’s no real surprise in that note, so Rey continues trying to gather all clues.

 

Squeezing her eyes shut, trying to adjust to the surroundings and the beeping machine she tries to scoot herself further up the bed. Then just as she sets all weight on her forearms they bend and her elbows snap.

 

Now frantically looking around the room for any kind of answer to why she is there, or why she is hurting, the air starts to run out. At least that’s what it feels like; chest heaving as she starts to give in to the panic.

 

Once she’s halfway through small, short gasps, the beeping of the monitor next to her has eventually had enough. A sounding alarm breaks through the room and it doesn’t take as much as a second before a person runs in.

 

She wants to know where she is, she wants to know what is going on, but she can’t find her voice. Whenever she tires to fill her lungs with just enough air to say something, it’s all pressed out. She can’t concentrate on anything other than not suffocating.

 

The person, who Rey could now assume was a nurse, grabs hold of her shoulders, pressing her down into the bed. Tells her to calm down. “You’re at Orion’s hospital.”

 

“I’ve never been to a hospital before,” Rey tries to say, but it’s barely a whisper.

 

“Take this.” A glass of water magically appears. “You’ve been here for the last 10 hours – can I have your name, please?”

 

The water runs down her throat in chunks, almost as if trying to fight against the burning cliffs that had suddenly appeared inside of her. Every single vein tainted with thorns and sharp edges. She’s coughing through the water before she even gets to her first word.

 

“Wh-wh-what…” Rey gulps down some more water, even though it hurts. “What happened?”

 

The nurse loosens their grip on her shoulders slightly, but doesn’t let go entirely. “You were in an car accident,” they say, and unlike last time they’d spoke, this voice was filled with sorrow. A look of fear masked in their tired eyes.

 

Rey frowns at the answer.

 

She didn’t remember.

 

“That’s not true,” she finally whispers. “That’s not what happened.”

 

The nurse steals a glance at the monitors; as if they could share some answers before they turn back to Rey, sighing. “The man who brought you in told us you were found hanging off the railing by the motorway,” the nurse explains. “He didn’t stay.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Rey still didn’t remember it happening. No motorway, no pain. But where did it all come from?

 

“Do you want me to call someone?” a question interrupts her thoughts, and Rey instantly shakes her head. “A parent or a sibling or mate?”

 

“No.”

 

She didn’t have any of those things. She wasn’t a part of a family, she wasn’t a sister, she wasn’t an Omega or Alpha. She was no one. No one worth worrying about anyway.

 

Rey’s hands are starting to shake, and she’s not really strong enough to keep holding her glass of water. She notices this a moment too late, fragile bones dropping it just before she could blink. Rey flinch as the water leaks all over her bedding, and while her nurse starts to yank at her sheets and the wires that might risk a contact, Rey’s focus drifts elsewhere.

 

“The man… who was he?” she mumbles.

 

Nurse looks up. “He never gave us any names, but fairly tall, red hair, blue eyes. He ran out once he saw you were taken care of… Do you know the man I am referring to? You recognize his description? Was he there at the accident with you?”

 

The follow-up questions are weighed down with the same interrogating force as Unkar Plutt often used on Rey whenever he wanted to know about newly scavenged parts, or missing parts, or missing people. Though Rey was used getting x-rayed with suspicious eyes – she knew to keep most things to herself.

 

When Rey stays silent, the nurse carefully folds the wet sheet into a square, setting it down on the empty chair before returning to Rey’s bed. She looks concerned, though it’s probably not by the scene of a shivering and still wet hospital patient.

 

“Either you knew him, or he was part of the accident.”

 

No. She doesn’t remember a car wreck. She _does_ remember ginger hair, the bitter and warm taste of iron and the smell of leather and cigarettes though.

 

“What makes you think he’s not just a stranger who decided to help?”

 

“All my years working here, I’ve never seen it happen,” the nurse mutters. “Most people make a hit and run, but then there’s a small percent that hits, brings the victim to safety, and then run.”

 

Biting her lip, Rey makes an effort to ignore the pain in her chest. “I don’t remember.”

 

“It’s completely normal to feel disorientated in the beginning… You’ve just been through a traumatic experience, but you’re safe now.” Didn’t feel that way, but Rey didn’t say anything. She kept quiet and let the nurse continue. “Things will fall into place once you’re recovered.”

 

“Recovered?”

 

“Yes. Now, first step getting there is giving me a name.”

 

A pen is clicked and a paper is brought out, maybe to make notes of her answers. Rey suspiciously glances down at the so far empty and clean piece of paper. So far she was safe.

 

“I don’t… I don’t know what… I…”

 

“Give me any name; anyone we can call. A contact of yours. That’s all I need right now.”

 

“I don’t have anyone.”

 

The nurse leans back slightly, eyes going down to the medical chart as if checking something. Then, “I’m going to go rerun some tests. It says here that you’re… Nevermind…”

 

“You can’t run any more tests,” Rey’s voice quivers. “I can’t afford it.”

 

“Again, if you could just give us a name, we could probably figure something out. You need medical attention.”

 

Rey’s nostrils flared. “ _No_.”

 

“I still need to write you up. Treating a Jane Doe doesn’t work long term.”

 

Rey narrowed her eyes, hissing as she accidentally pressed against something bruised. Or potentially broken judging from the mass of pain that crashed down on her. She could bare it, she’d seen worse, but not knowing was killing her.

 

“Then I have to get out of here,” she snaps, though it doesn’t come out nearly as commanding as she’d hoped to be. Her voice is still hoarse, and her eyes are still tired, movement limited.

 

“I highly recommend you to stay.”

 

She shakes her head no again; pressing through the headache it gives her. She settles on a grimace instead, gritted teeth pressing out, “No use. I’m leaving.”

 

“You can’t be serious…”

 

Rey swung her legs away from the bed, lining up against the edge as she whimpered against the pain. Hands gripped against the small railing, then before the nurse could push her back down again, Rey pulled herself up. It took everything in her power not to scream, but she was used to being quiet, so somehow she managed to rise. Staying upright was an entirely different task, however. Just a few seconds in sitting up and she was already swaying, eyes starting to blur by the tears that had began to form. It felt like she was going to throw up, but her stomach was empty.

 

“Miss…”

 

A hand lands on her shoulder, but Rey cowards away, moving away as she filled her lungs with as much air as possible before her cracked ribs would start to hurt.

 

“Please don’t-” the nurse begged, but Rey stood up.

 

Then everything went out black.

 

 

* * *

  

 

Finn usually never gets up at 3 AM. Those days were over – cursed and hopefully forgotten in soon time – and yet here he was, aimlessly trying to rub the sleep away as he staggered over towards his front door. “ _Alright, alright- fuck_ ,” he muttered as he ventured out into the hall, nearly slipping on BB as he stumbled over the carpet.

 

Still, despite Finn’s plea, the knocking, or rather slamming, at his door didn’t seize.

 

Any other day he would’ve called the cops. See, usually Finn never opened his front door to anyone who wasn’t invited. Especially in situations like these. And not ever at 3 AM.

 

Except then he’d heard her.

 

“Finn,  _please_ ,” a muffled voice would come from behind the thick wooden door. “Please let me in.” Either his door had to be very sound isolating, or Rey’s voice was suddenly very small, because he could barely make her out.

 

When he finally unlocks the door and swings it open, Rey, who’s been leaning against the door for support instantly collapses into Finn. He barely manages to grab onto her before she starts to slide down against his chest – her hands not strong enough to find a grip on his shirt. She’s been crying, either from exhaustion or pain or both.

 

“Rey?”

 

“ _Finn_.”

 

Once he breathes her in, he notices the change. The change of pressure around her – the otherwise neutral scent suddenly electrified. He hadn’t felt anything like it before and the feeling was overwhelming, but so was Rey, pressing herself closer for dear life.

 

“I’m s-so-sorry, I just had nowhere else to g-go.”

 

Finn tries to maneuver them so that he can keep Rey standing while simultaneously closing the door behind them. The cap she’d been wearing slips of her head in the progress, but no one of the two bothers to pick it up. When the door is locked again, Finn directs all focus to the small mechanic in his arms. And then he notices the hospital gown and the impromptu shoes; blue plastic shoe covers over bare feet probably also taken from a hospital.

 

“What the hell Rey?” His hands and eyes roam and explore. “Are you okay? How did you even get here?”

 

And then when his eyes adjust to the light, he notices the marks and the split lip.

 

“Fuck,” he breathes out, fear starting to build up as his quivering hand finds her cheek. He’s shaking, but so is Rey. She’s cold. “What… How did you even get here what---”

 

“They took me to a h-hospital but I..I c-couldn’t s-s-stay,” Rey stutters.

 

“ _What_?”

 

“First time they told me… they told me someone had brought me in… that I wouldn’t remember anything until I calmed down but then… I… I couldn’t… and then the second time I woke up I was alone again,” she continues on as if she’s on a timer, words quick and rambled, almost slurry as they tried to keep up. “I couldn’t wait for them to pull in the authorities in the morning – the nurse… that’s what they do – so I snuck out. I grabbed a bag and I left.”

 

Finn frowns at the story. “You’re still in the full hospital getup. Why didn’t the security stop you?”

 

“I took the stairs,” she whispers and her whole face twists in pain at the memory. Or maybe it’s an aftershock of the waves. “I’m so tired,” she cries. “Can I stay here?”

 

“Rey, you need to go back and see a doctor.”

 

Rey bites her lip to stop herself from sobbing. “No, no, no. Tomorrow. Please.  _Please_  Finn… I promise I’ll go tomorrow.”

 

“Why?”

 

“I’m so tired and they won’t let me- they won’t leave me alone. They’ll just keep  _pressing_ , Finn. All these questions… Answers I can’t give them. I don’t know what happened.”

 

“What do you remember?”

 

“Nothing…” Rey’s voice is exhausted and nearly completely thinned out, raspy and rough like desert. Still, Finn can tell she’s telling the truth.

 

Finn clenches his jaw, his free hand into a fist, then, “Once the sun’s up I’ll drive you.”

 

And as if he’d just released her of such weight, of such a massive burden of worry, Rey gives up. It’s like all energy and life drains out of her and for a second Finn cries out because he’s expecting the worst. He’s just quick enough to catch her fall; sore muscles keeping her up into his chest. He debates taking her to the hospital right away – drive now that she’s unconscious, but then he feels the tremors sweeping through her body.

 

Finn stays up the whole night watching Rey.

 

He tucks her into his now cool bed, kiss her forehead, and waits.

 

Once the sun rises, there’s a knock on Finn’s door. This time he’s quick to answer, a sigh of relief escaping his compressed lungs as he sees Poe Dameron waiting on the other side. Poe grabs onto Finn’s forearms, one hand sliding down to Finn’s wrist, soft thumb rubbing over Finn’s pulse as they breathe each other in.

 

“Glad you came,” Finn mumbles. “I need help.”

 

“Anything.”

 

“I need you to drive.” He leaves out the reason why; his hands won’t stop shaking.

 

Finn looks close to choked up, and once Poe walks inside the tiny apartment, it’s like a torch is handed over. Finn doesn’t have to be the strong one anymore. He can finally empty all the bottled up darkness he’d filled up overnight. Watching Rey’s sleeping form, counting the bruises.

 

“Rey’s here?” Poe asks, eyes narrowing as he takes a look over Finn’s shoulder further into the apartment. There wasn’t much to see, the small mechanic hidden further into Finn’s bedroom, but he could still feel it in the air. “There’s something different with her…”

 

“I’ve been stuck all night trying to figure out what it is.”

 

“It’s not just Rey anymore. There’s something else lingering...” Poe states, very familiar with the scent, and how it was no longer what his Alpha mind had categorized upon first meeting the girl.

 

Finn shakes his head. “No it’s still just Rey’s scent, but it’s… amplified?”

 

Taking Poe’s hand, fingers entwining and knitting together for the full support, Finn carefully starts to lead Poe further into the apartment. Then, once they reach the slightly ajar door to the bedroom, Finn stops. He glances back at Poe and asks himself if it was the right thing to do to drag him into all of this. If it was right of him to expose Poe to this kind of scenery of blue bruises and hallow cheeks.

 

With a squeeze of his hand, Poe nods at Finn, silently promising that he was right there, and then they entered.

 

First thing Poe noticed was the wave of sweetness flowing over him once he stepped inside. Something sweet, and then raw iron and plastic. And then, in the middle of the pool of the cringing scents laid Rey.

 

Her knees here pulled up though not enough to flatten against her ribs. Her hands were caught up in fists, clenching the bed sheets in a death grip as she twitched under her sleep. Even though she was still unconscious, peace never soothed over the lines on her forehead or knitted eyebrows. Even her eyes were squeezed together in a tight line.

 

“What happened to her?”

 

“No idea,” Finn whispers. “She said she couldn’t remember.”

 

“Someone has triggered something with her,” Poe continues, taking a step closer to the bed and therefore pulling Finn along with him. “It’s almost like… like…”

 

“She’s not like us,” Finn reminds him.

 

“No, I know that,” Poe nods. “But there’s something different about her scent.”

 

“We’ll take her to the hospital. They’ll know what to do,” Finn hurries. “They’ll know how to neutralize it before someone gets any ideas that she’s something she isn’t.”

 

Poe leans over the girl, placing his free hand on her forehead. It’s warm, nearly burning, and his heart aches as he realize how much pain she must be in. Pulling back, he thinks over the possibilities. “I think we need to talk to her before we drive her to the hospital though,” he finally says. “She’s safe with us until we hand her off to the doc.”

 

“But she said she didn’t remember anything.”

 

“Maybe… but I doubt it will stay that way forever..”

 

Finn looks doubtful. “You know how isolated she’s been. She’s not good on sharing,” he argues, and although he loves Rey, loves her with so much care and sympathy, he still doesn’t know much about her. She hadn’t let him get that close.

 

Sensing Finn’s defeat and how the light was leaving his warm eyes, Poe leans in to kiss his cheek. ”She’ll be okay, Finn.”

 

They take turns carrying Rey – Poe carries her down to his car before jumping into the drivers seat, then Finn takes her once they’ve stopped at the hospital. She’s carefully wrapped in one of Finn’s hoodies. They’d managed to switch out the blue plastic shoe covers for some old knitted socks Finn had received last winter, but the hospital gown was still on. The sliding doors don’t give them a lot of room to stop once they’ve gotten inside and from the battle look Rey was sporting even now when she was unconscious, someone in scrubs instantly rushes forward. A Beta. They’re speaking in an urgent voice scolding Finn and Poe for not bringing her to the ICU, or the emergency room. After that they four of them are on the move. The nurse starts examining and pushing pressure points, confirming injuries and quickly settling on that this was the runaway patient they’d gotten reports on during the night and morning shift.

 

“Are you relatives or in a close relation to this woman?” the nurse asks.

 

“No- I mean yes, but… we’re friends,” Finn stammers. “It’s… She doesn’t have a lot of people. We’re-We’re friends.”

 

“Finn?”

 

The voice pulls him away from the blurry havoc rushing around him and he instantly looks down. Hazel eyes stare up at him, concerned and almost scared – though the fear quickly melts once he meets her stare. She knew better. Finn would never hurt her. As long as he was with her, she was good.

 

“Finn, what’s happening?”

 

“I promised I would take you here first thing in the morning.”

 

Poe, who’d been walking next to Finn and Rey, somehow manages to catch hold of Rey’s limp and reasonable deadweight hand, squeezing it tightly. “It’s morning,” Poe smiles sadly. “It’s okay, you’re going to be okay.”

 

“I can walk by myself.”

 

“ _No_!” All three, nurse, Finn and Poe included, yells.

 

“Absolutely not!” the nurse continues. “Over here.” And then suddenly Rey isn’t in the warm and soft embrace of Finn anymore, but placed down on a cold hospital bed. Even though her whole body, every cell is screaming in pain, she doesn’t make a sound. She remembers taking a lot of painkillers just before going to bed, the buzz still numbing most of her head.

 

“And you? Are you her mate?”

 

This time the question is directed to Poe, who’s eyes grow wide in shock. Nearly twice their original size as he unwinds and tries to understand the words. _Mate_?

 

“I’m not one of them,” Rey’s raspy voice answers before Poe can even get a chance to defend himself or his or Finn’s honor or loyalty or love. The love. The love that they gave and- No Rey wasn’t a part of that. Everyone knew that. “I’m not like  _that_ ,” she emphasizes, eyelids half-closed as she slumped back against the pillow.

 

She was starting to feel dizzy by the constant pushing on her bed and her surroundings and the walls were kicking and breathing. “… can we stop?” she added weakly. “I’m not feeling so well.”

 

The bed comes to a halt, and Rey peaks up at the three people surrounding her.

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“We need to transfer you to an Omega specialist,” the nurse concludes. “I don’t know how to treat a case like this one – my specialty mainly lays in trauma, and while that’s still very much part of your case, your other loss is far more important.”

 

Maybe still high on the pain, Rey doesn’t really react.

 

“In here,” the nurse opens a door to a private room.

 

Finn, however, doesn’t let the nurse go any further before his confusion slips out. “Loss of what? What does that mean? Why are you taking her to an Omega specialist?”

 

Maybe they were short on licensed staff, but he doubted it.

 

The nurse looks down at Rey, eyes patient and it’s almost as if she’s waiting for  _Rey_  to answer Finn’s question. But Rey is just as lost as Finn, if not more – so after a moment’s silence, the nurse turns back to the two men standing crouched, practically hanging over Rey’s bed.

 

“I need to talk with the two of you outside,” the nurse finally decides. She reaches out and presses a button over by the wall, and soon enough there’s two nurses walking inside. With a short handover and simple instructions in code, the new nurses start to get Rey settled into the room. Meanwhile, the original nurse motion for Finn and Poe to move.

 

Taken into a new secluded room they’re told to wait.

 

It takes 10 minutes for the nurse to return, this time not solo, but accompanies by a doctor in a white coat. “This is Doctor Rarol, Omega expert.” They shake hands.

 

Finn purses his lips. “Care to explain?”

 

“I’m assigned to Miss Niima because she’s claimed and in situations like these, Omega’s usually never fully recover until their mate has returned to their side to calm them. And while we can never fully fill that sense of calm, I’m an expert at handling separated mates.” The doctor says all of this in one go, like it’s something completely normal and well known; and to be fair kind of it is. People were taught about the Omega dynamics early in school and Finn himself was one, but all of the logic just didn’t match up when Rey was included into the equation. “And while your company is a big help, neither of you are her One.”

 

“What?”

 

The doctor looks over at the nurse, for a second hesitant. “You’re the right people, right? Friends of the Omega in the next room also now getting treated for her car accident?”

 

_Omega._

_Omega._

_Omega._

 

The word echoes and Finn looses his grip on reality and falls down to his knees with a heavy thump. “ _No_ ,” he breathes out. “No way.”

 

“She’s an Omega?” Poe asks in disbelief. He won’t accept that. No way. He’s an Alpha. “No.  _I would’ve known_ ,” he insists.

 

“We ran it to the lab two times. Her test-results are the same.”

 

“She’s  _not_  an Omega!” Poe barks.

 

Finn, still down on the floor on his knees, start to press his hands to his head; palms pressing tightly against his ears as he cups them, blocking the noise out. He keeps repeating himself, “ _No_ , no no _, not Rey,_ no _-”_  stuck in a hopeless loop of sorrow. His eyes are shut, his shoulders shaking.

 

“She’s not an Omega,” Poe stubborn, breaking the trance, brown eyes are firm. He starts to make out the list of appeal. “She’s never had a heat, never presented, never had anyone react to her scent, and never triggered an Alpha to claim her.  _Never_ , understand? Rey… She’s not like that. She was never part of… us. She was never meant to…” he stumbles on her words, shaking his head furiously as he glares at the doctor.

 

“Sir, you need to calm down.”

 

“She’s just injured,” Poe insists. “Badly, but you’ll fix her. You will.”

 

“Once her mate comes back she’ll-”

 

“STOP SAYING THAT!” Poe booms. “You’re not making any sense, okay? She doesn’t have anyone – I already told you, she’s not like us. She doesn’t have anyone. She’s on her own.”

 

Sighing, slowly rubbing his temples, Dr. Rarol tried to remain calm. He nodded towards the door and in the direction of Rey’s room. “Hypothetically, let’s say she  _was_  an Omega; who would be her mate?”

 

“Fucking hell man,” Poe hisses.

 

“Who has she been in close contact with?” the doctor persists. The question speaks in several planes of intimacy, but Poe being an Alpha didn’t exactly need to have it spelled out for him detail by detail. He knew what power rested between two mates.

 

“That’s the point, she doesn’t have that pull to anyone.”

 

The nurse snaps their fingers. “Our point exactly!” they exclaim. “---it’s because she’s already claimed.”

 

“But she’s… no, it’s been like that forever.”

 

And that’s when Poe got to the point where Finn had fallen down. Because that’s when all the puzzle pieces fit together. Poe didn’t know Rey’s past as much as Finn did, but he’d had heard enough stories, or he’d seen enough tears getting pushed away in weak attempts to forget all of it. And now he was right where Finn had instantly fallen. A sudden horror and theory springing in his mind.

 

“Someone claimed Rey and left. Left her behind,” he says, nearly choking on his own words, because it’s the most torturous thing you could do to an Omega. He’d never heard of anything like it happening. Maybe old horror stories, but never real. “Fucking hell.”

 

The doctor only added to the horror. “We’ve never encountered a mated Omega who’s stayed on heavy suppressants after getting claimed. It’s never heard of. Not a single one. But if she’s been overlooked by Alphas by a long time, it must’ve started at an early age.”

 

“Unkar Plutt?” Poe breathes out, because that’s the first person that pops up, and it’s filled with disgust and anger and so much pain he wants to roar.

 

“I’ll kill him,” Finn growled. “I’ll fucking kill him. I should’ve done something before we left that dump,” Finn goes on, thinking back at that time he’d grabbed her hand and told her to  _run_.

 

“If you had you two would not have gotten away.”

 

Finn has rivers of tears running down his flushed cheeks. “It wasn’t- it’s not-” he tries to heave out, but it’s all too much all at once and there’s noise and there’s something scratching against his heart and it feels wrong and he’s so tired from staying up all night. Hours ago Rey had been his friend, safe and normal, and now she was an Omega.

 

Poe, clearly as angry as Finn, but in more control, clasped his hands together. “We’re not staying in here any longer,” he says. “We have to see her. She must be terrified.”

 

Poe, who’s standing close to Finn, sees the internal defeat. Because Finn wants to help, and right now he can’t, and it’s hurting him because seeing Finn hurt hurts Poe as well. “It’s going to be okay,” Poe soothes.

 

“It’s not,” Finn mumbles. “Someone  _left_. Left  _Rey_. Whoever did that to her, whoever claimed her and left is a monster.”

 

Poe crosses his arms, taking a step back from Finn. He looks in deep thought, and then when he senses all three pair of eyes staring, he turns his back at them, pacing around the room in a quick tempo as his hands clench into fists, then burst out like explosions and all fingers reach out as if to catch something invisible.

 

Then he stops.

 

“I just don’t understand,” he says, voice frustrated. “No Alpha would ever do that. It’s such a harsh punishment for someone you’re attached to it’s… it's... Look. A mating isn’t single sided. Doing that to both parties would tear both of them apart. It’s not humane. It’s not what we do. It’s not in our blood or in our nature to leave our mate. Not ever.”

 

The nurse nods her head in agreement, muttering something about how there were no recorded cases of a claim being single-sided.

 

“It’s selfish,” Poe goes on. “To claim her just so that no one else would as much as look in her direction. That’s what Rey’s scent gives off, you know.  _Don’t touch, don’t get attached_.”

 

“Sounds like suppressants,” Finn knits his eyebrows together.

 

“Although a claimed mate is strong enough to keep other Alphas away, considering you’ve mentioned she’s never presented or gone through a heat, I would guess that maybe it’s a combination,” Rarol drags his hands through his beard. “We did find traces of heavy suppressants in the lab, right?” he asks the nurse, who nods. “However, we still need more information though.”

 

He waves his hand over towards the door, and the nurse steps out of the way.

 

Finn is first one out of the room and first one to get to Rey’s side, crossing the borderland of corridor in two long strides. Once he enters, Rey, a new completely new stranger in his eyes, breathes out his name in relief.

 

She’s still the same Rey.

 

“What’s going on?” she asks, and Finn wants to tell her everything.

 

But he doesn’t want her to hurt. Realizing what a harsh punishment some unknown Alpha had cursed her with would crush her. So instead of telling her, he goes down his knees next to her bed. His hands frantically start searching to grab both of Rey’s. He kisses them, cupping them as he closes his eye. Maybe he’s praying. Rey doesn’t understand why, but then again, she probably needs it.

 

“They found suppressants in your system,” Poe offers from the doorframe, shadowed by the nurse and the doctor. “Do you have any idea where they come from?”

 

Rey looks down at Finn, but he’s avoiding her eyes.

 

“I uh…” She bites her lip. Thinking back at Jakku and her life there was always heartache, but it toughened her up. “I grew up on them.”

 

“But you’re supposed to be  _normal_ ,” Poe stresses. “Why would you take suppressants?”

 

Rey sniffles. “First time I ever entered a hospital was yesterday, Poe.” He squeezes her shoulder, but somehow now when their roles are completely new, she doesn’t feel like it’s right. It doesn’t feel as comforting as it’s supposed to. “Plutt didn’t know who was what. It didn’t matter to him. All that mattered was that we could _work_. So I grew up taking the pills just like the rest of the scavengers.” She scoffs. “Couldn’t have anyone not showing up one day. Couldn’t have anyone get distracted with mating or falling into a heat or rut. All that mattered was picking and fixing parts.”

 

“I’ll kill him,” Finn whispers, though he doesn’t sound as angry anymore. He sounds hollow. Somehow that comes out as more threatening than through a growl. “I will kill him.”

 

“Some scavengers came up with the idea of selling the suppressants. Plutt had them imported directly from some lab, so they were maxed out. Risky and most of them overdosed; but that also meant stronger.” Rey gulps. “When he found out some of us had traded the suppressants for food he freaked out. Stopped it. Made us take inserts instead.”

 

She points to her lower bicep where the implant was resting under her sun kissed skin.

 

“I’m so sorry, Rey.”

 

Was Poe apologizing for her childhood and uprising or for the suppressants?

 

“What does that have to do with anything anyway?” she goes on to ask. “Are the suppressants messing me up?”

 

Before Poe or Finn could come up with any good excuse or distraction or lie, Doctor Rarol takes a step into the treatment room. “We just need the full exam before we can go on treating your wounds. Simple procedure referring back to what we find in your system.”

 

She must’ve sensed something in the hurried tempo or the pressed look, or just noting the fact that Finn still wouldn’t look at her, but something was wrong. She felt it close to her heart. Something was missing and it was beating, missing beats, something scratching against the surface of it. It didn’t feel right.

 

“I’m scared,” she whispers.

 

“You’re going to be okay, Rey.”

 

And as if someone had just flipped a switch, the thing that had itched against her heart; the heat that had always been pressing there deep inside for as long as she could remember just melts. It melts and it’s as if a fog was released into the space and suddenly she could remember. “ _You’ll be safe.”_

 

_You’ll be safe._

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> silently sobbing because it's such a mess for my heart


End file.
